This is not normal. They're really taking a long time with this -- we got CADs in 1 week, and the ring 2 weeks after that (from ERD). They also told us to plan for 6 weeks, but they managed to turn it around much faster than that. Is it too late to take your business elsewhere? Or have you paid a de...

Unfortunately, there's no way to judge a cushion by the numbers. You need an ASET (the red/green/blue) or an IdealScope (the red/black or red/white) image for that. The different types of cushions just have different light performing properties. Short of ASET and IdealScope, a photo or video of the ...

Have you considered going with pink surprise diamonds? or going with a white diamond halo and a pink diamond wedder? I agree with this part. I love pink, but not in my ER face-up. If I really wanted pink, I'd go for a pink surprise stone, or a pink donut stone (I just made that word up, but it's th...

I love the concept! So elegant. I can't wait to see it made. My only suggestion (very small one): Would you consider a small notch in the wedding band so that it locks in place with the support for the point of the pear? If you look at the CADs, there is a support that runs down from the point in th...

Having an inclusion in the center isn't a terrible thing...as long as you can't see it. =D If it's a white crystal or a white feather or a small cloud AND it got a VS2 -- chances are, you will not be able to see it. Most likely. But the only way you can judge this is by looking. And to echo what eve...

The appraiser did break out the glass master set, but to me the F looked more like my stone than the I did. "Glass"?? Errr...I've only heard of CZ and natural diamond master sets. But anyways... Also, you can't compare an EGL cert (notoriously variable) to those of a GIA cert (much more r...

The ERD one -- I think the ASET shows that the "maltese cross" will leak. That is, the reflective parts of the pavilion are the diagonals, not the mains (that form the cross), if this makes sense. Have you seen the diamond IRL? Does it exhibit this behavior? The GOG one looks fantastic. I ...

Congratulations on your engagement! I don't have a specific suggestion for you in the UK -- however, a lot of the UK members have purchased either loose diamonds or entire rings from online vendors in the US and had them shipped to the UK. With your budget (5k pounds = $8k USD), you can get a nice (...

I know exactly how you feel. We found a 1.71 last year and I loved it on paper (for the ct size in retrospect), but when I saw it, it had a giant table, and was a 4 main. My personal problem with that 4 main in particular was that the symmetry has to be bang on. (The vertices of the pavilion interse...

OP, I think you're confusing SI and VS. If you can see an inclusion with the naked eye in a VS1 or 2 diamond, you are blessed with extraordinary eye sight. In general, SI1 = visible inclusions to the naked eye (although some of these can pass as "eye clean"), so SI2 = even worse! If you re...

Just keep in mind that as you go thinner, the band becomes higher -- think of the cross sectional volume of metal as the determining factor in strength. So a wider band can be flatter, but a narrower band has to be higher to achieve the same metal volume. It's not to say that the same metal volume =...

And on your local diamond: There are these things called fax machines. Even if the diamond is with the dealer, they could ask HIM to fax it to them to fax to you. If you can't verify that it HAS a cert (let alone look up the cert online yourself), I'd run away quickly.

Manks, Is commissioning in the US (with CAD review, etc) out of the question? Because you would save on the diamond, the setting, and you could have a computer rendering of the final ring before it was cast.

antelope1, Thanks for the push! You know, I noticed that partial green in the ASET; however, I have been seeing that this is usually all green and not usually all red. I have just seen over 6 diamonds on WF where the center is all (or about half) green--and these are their H&A signature cut. Am...

I am no expert, but I do really like chunky fire. Not only at stoplights, but I can sit in the window seat of a plane (say a plane with 3 seats on either side of the aisle) and do a disco ball effect on the overhead compartments on the far side of the aisle.

It does look chunky to me. I think you could go a whole 1mm thinner (if not more) in a solitaire setting...some people like thicker bands, but your finger is so wee, and the band is so big that your BIG diamond also looks wee. If your ER band width were the same as your WR band width, it would total...

Table is too big on the H-VS2 for my taste. I'm not saying that a big table will affect light performance, but just that I don't like the ratio -- and in a diamond that big, you will definitely notice the table size! Are you sure that you want a 4-main modern cushion? Have you seen one IRL? There ar...

The diamond itself looks good. Whiteflash ratings (the stars) are generally pretty accurate, IMO. If you want a slightly larger diamond, you could go down to VS2 and still get something reliably eye-clean. If she's blind as a bat (as I am), you could go down to an eye-clean SI1 and really wow her wi...

Well I bought my dress today. :appl: Pronovias White One 411 It was way under budget. I also bought an embroidered belt to go with. Very happy with it, I'll post a photo later as I'm on the iPhone now. Got UK size 8 (US 4) but still have an inch to get off my hips by July so I can fit in it! Phew I...

Florists seem to use these things called [url=floralytes]http://www.save-on-crafts.com/floralytes4.html[/url] to light up centerpieces. But how are they different from these LED [url=keychains]http://www.dealextreme.com/p/white-flashlight-keychain-22000mcd-10-pack-1100[/url]? Except that the floraly...